Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has appointed his main political rival, Philippine Vice President Leni Robredo, his “drug czar” after the opposition leader expressed alarm about the death toll in campaign against illegal drugs and said that it needed a fresh approach.
The appointment came after critical remarks by Robredo during an interview with Reuters, and in subsequent media appearances, which angered Duterte and prompted a torrent of fury by his supporters aimed at the vice president, who has no role in his administration.
Duterte’s spokesman said that the decision to make Robredo a cochair of an interagency committee against narcotics was genuine and not a cynical move to discredit her.
Robredo had no immediate comment.
Her spokesman last week said that Duterte’s talk of offering her the job was to make her a scapegoat for the shortcomings of the campaign.
Duterte’s signature policy has caused an international outcry because of the thousands of people killed in what human rights groups have said are systematic executions and cover-ups by police.
Police have rejected those allegations.
Duterte responded furiously to a UN Human Rights Council resolution in July to investigate the killings.
Last year, Duterte withdrew the Philippines’ membership in the International Criminal Court (ICC) after it launched a preliminary examination into alleged crimes against humanity.
“With this development, the [presidential] palace supposes that detractors and critics will finally see the sincerity of the president in making such offer,” presidential spokesman Salvador Panelo said in a statement.
The decision was made “in the hope that the government [can] be successful in combating the atrocity caused by the use and trade of illegal narcotics, regardless of who greatly contributed to such success,” he said.
Activists have said that police are operating with impunity and with the tacit support of a president who once said that the campaign would kill 100,000 people.
Police have said that they have killed nearly 7,000 drug suspects, who resisted arrest, but deny involvement in the mysterious murders of thousands more.
Robredo on Oct. 23 told Reuters that the crackdown had overwhelmingly targeted the poor and police were being allowed to abuse their power.
International help, including from the UN and ICC, should be sought if the government refused to change tack, she said.
Robredo, who was elected separately to Duterte, said that too many people have been killed, with no evidence of a decline in the supply or use of drugs.
“We ask ourselves: ‘Why is this still happening?’ The president has already made very serious threats to drug syndicates, to drug lords ... and yet it’s still very prevalent, so obviously, it’s not working,” she said in the interview.
Panelo said that the president had directed all agencies to support Robredo.
“If she has been criticizing the drug war as ineffective, then there must be ideas on her mind to make it effective,” Panelo told ABS-CBN News Channel.
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